Growing Excellence In AI: Advice For Junior, Mid And Senior Engineers

Forbes

17-07-2025

Agur Jõgi, CTO of Pipedrive and expert in scaling technology and organizations. Experienced as an innovator, founder and C-level manager.
AI acceptance in the enterprise is growing. More AI features are being introduced, targeting ever-sharper use cases. Even more importantly, AI projects—which were initially slow to show value—are showing ROI.
With any new technology, early adopters tend to focus on using it to build isolated features. But it takes time for organizations to move beyond novelty and truly integrate new tech into solutions that solve real customer problems and deliver a seamless, end-to-end experience. That evolution is valuable, but it often comes with baggage.
Software engineering job listings have decreased. Thousands have been laid off across the tech sector, and many blame AI in part, though economic, geopolitical and national productivity issues are all affecting businesses in incredibly significant ways.
This is why it's vital that engineers at each, every and any stage of their career must understand how best to leverage AI within their roles. They must also stack skills to build a unique personal offering and cultivate the right orientation to showcase their value rather than what they 'do.'
It's time to orient to outcomes over the role, overcoming any discomfort and thinking about work in a way that introspective high performers have been doing forever.
Junior engineers may feel like their formal education is behind them, but in reality, their learning is just beginning. Technology evolves rapidly, and staying current means continuously developing new skills, exploring emerging tools and techniques, and pursuing ongoing certifications. Rather than seeing this as a burden, it should be viewed as an exciting opportunity—because being a technologist means committing to lifelong learning in a field that's constantly being reshaped.
Ask any senior engineer and they'll tell you—they once trained on platforms and languages that junior engineers today may have never encountered. The tools of the trade evolve quickly, and it's only a matter of time before today's technologies are replaced or radically transformed. That's why continuous learning isn't optional—it's essential. Stay curious, stay motivated and keep exploring new ways to combine your skills. Focus on building expertise in areas that deliver real value, but understand that your toolkit will need to expand over time. Right now, AI is one of those pivotal tools—whether you're building with it or simply using it, it's crucial to understand how it works and take ownership of your role in its development.
With solid experience and training behind you—and likely a clear trajectory within your career—one of the biggest mistakes at the mid-level is assuming you've learned all there is to know. As the saying goes, 'The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago; the second-best time is now.'
It's not uncommon for ongoing education or the drive for innovation to slow at this stage. That's understandable. By now, you've likely taken on greater responsibilities and become more attuned to business goals, recognizing how closely your success is tied to helping achieve them.
This makes it the ideal moment to think about the specialist roles and unique contributions you could make within your organization. You've gained deep expertise, not just in your technical domain, but also in the workflows and culture of your company and sector. Use that knowledge to shape your next steps through targeted training, job shadowing or mentorship—whether giving or receiving it.
And don't hesitate to make your value visible. Demonstrate your impact and actively live up to it.
At the senior level, your greatest asset is accumulated experience, and it must be applied in ways that are both strategic and tangible. While you may not need to dive deep into every new technology like a practitioner, staying current is critical. You're expected to evaluate emerging tools and trends, understand their strategic implications and spot the familiar warning signs of hype, risk or potential missteps.
In today's AI-driven landscape, seniority isn't defined by tenure—it's defined by impact. Senior engineers navigate ambiguity, influence outcomes and help others thrive. With AI increasingly handling execution-level tasks, the irreplaceable value lies in deciding what to build, why it matters and how to avoid common mistakes. That's where your experience makes the difference.
You should champion outcome-oriented thinking. Ask: How does this serve the business, the user, the customer? Use your expertise to guide architectural decisions, assess risk and plan for the long term. AI may accelerate delivery, but it's up to senior engineers to set the direction.
Finally, be a mentor. Change can be unsettling. Senior engineers are in a unique position to bring empathy and clarity, offering support, sharing context and leading by example. Create space for AI pair programming and foster a culture of peer learning. Help others grow not just by solving problems, but by framing them through stories that communicate value, not just output.
In short, your role is no longer just to fix—it's to design frameworks.
Alongside enthusiasm and a plan for adoption and skill development, engineering talent should also reflect on what to let go of. For instance, the traditional emphasis on perfectionism in code quality may start to shift. As speed, iteration and responsiveness become more valuable—and as AI tooling increasingly handles testing, code reviews and other "shift left" tasks—the expectation that humans must own every line of code may no longer hold. In some cases, responsibility for certain tasks may shift to AI tools or be distributed across teams differently than before.
It's also worth acknowledging a deeply human truth: many of us crave stability. Yet in both business and technology, change is constant—only now, the pace and scale are more visible. The key is to develop agility in mindset, not just in processes. Change isn't just risk—it's also opportunity.
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